While most parents notice how picky their 2-year-olds are when it comes to restaurant food, one mom noticed how picky her toddler was with something else.
Whenever Sheila Morovati took her daughter to eat at restaurants, she discovered an odd trend. Like most 2-year-olds, her little one would hardly use the crayons given to her before moving onto something else.
"After one or two lines drawn, the crayons would fall to the floor or get pushed to the other side of the table," Sheila told me. "The other parents with young kids experienced the same thing."
If you visit any kid-friendly restaurants, crayons on the floor will be a common sight.
But that's only part of the story. These virtually unused crayons would be placed in the trash, never to be seen again. Sheila wasn't feeling that at all.
"Crayons are valuable," Sheila said. "I know that many students and teachers would yearn for them."
On top of that, teachers have to shell out what little money they have to buy school supplies, and wasted crayons are just another unnecessary item taking up space in landfills.
That's all of the inspiration Sheila needed to create the Crayon Collection.
"Simply put, the Crayon Collection collects lightly used crayons and redistributes them to teachers and throughout the community," Sheila said.
But this is no smalltime endeavor. The organization is currently in five countries, along with hundreds of restaurants and schools worldwide.
One of the thousands of gift boxes the Crayon Collection donates to schools every year. Photo from Sheila Morovati, used with permission.
That's wonderful and all, but you may be thinking, "Wait a minute ... this seems familiar. Isn't there already something like this out there?"
Another organization called the Crayon Initiative does a whole lot of good by donating crayons to children in hospitals, but the Crayon Collection is a different animal altogether.
Here are four things that make this organization so cool.
1. They get crayons in the hands of young kids at schools.
Sheila's organization partners with the National Head Start Association to provide crayons to 1 million of America's most vulnerable children.
"There are thousands of Head Start schools in our nation, and sadly many of the children don't have much more than the clothes on their backs," Sheila said. The Crayon Collection provides these children with crayons so they can use them at school or at home.
This little boy was fascinated by twistable crayons, so Sheila showed him how they work. Photo from Sheila Morovati, used with permission.
2. They partner with big restaurant chains to ensure no crayon goes to waste.
Denny's restaurant is one of the biggest chains that the Crayon Collection partners with. Sheila's team gives Denny's employees information on how to properly handle the crayons so nearby schools can pick them up easily.
"Denny's participation is truly inspiring and motivating," Sheila said. "We hope that the program will be adopted in other kid-friendly restaurants everywhere."
3. They show kids that giving is better than receiving.
This is one of Sheila's favorite aspects of her program. For example, she has a group of children in California who visit some of the state's highest-poverty schools to donate crayons.
"We teach kids in better-served communities a wonderful lesson in philanthropy, and they love it."
A group of young kids in Santa Monica, California, collect and organize crayons to deliver to kids in need. Photo from Sheila Morovati, used with permission.
She isn't kidding. Studies have shown that children who give to others are generally happier.
Contrary to popular belief, kids actually enjoy giving to others. GIF from the Crayon Collection.
4. They created a crayon curriculum without any additional cost to the school districts.
Thanks to a suggestion from the National Endowment of the Arts, the Crayon Collection started a "crayon curriculum" for all recipient schools — and it doesn't cost the schools a dime.
A crayon curriculum that doesn't cost schools anything? That's a win-win. Photo by Sheila Morovati, used with permission.
"Local artists have provided amazing ideas for projects so that the crayons can be used a tool for deeper learning," Sheila said.
For example, an artist named Annie Lapin created a project where kids circle a specific capital letter in a newspaper (S, for example, in the image below) and draw lines to connect each one. Afterward, the kids will color the image and create an animal.
What a creative way for kids to use crayons!
Kids love crayons. The Crayon Collection ensures as many kids as possible can get some.
Sheila offered a few parting words on why this program means so much to her:
"We really feel that the scalability of our model is why we have been able to work with people from all over the world and create so much happiness and joy for kids who really need a little color in their lives."
And nothing is more colorful than the smiles of happy children.
Color + kids = happiness. GIF from Crayon Connection, used with permission.
Be sure to check out the Crayon Collection's website to learn how you can be a part of the action!